'Starmer faces winter fuel anger' as 'scores of MPs could rebel'
BBC
·4 min read
The i writes that ministers are considering a plan to give households on lower incomes cheaper gas and electricity bills. It notes a "social tariff" for energy bills is being considered, as criticism mounts over the upcoming cut to winter fuel payments. Ten million pensioners will no longer receive the payments, and it will only be available to those on low incomes who received certain benefits. At the top of the page, pyrotechnics are pictured firing off at the closing ceremony for the Paralympics, where the British team finished second in the medal table with 49 golds. [BBC]
The Daily Express's headline quotes Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell who says Labour "clearly planned to betray" pensioners before the election with the cut to winter fuel payments. The Commons will vote on the proposal on Tuesday. Meanwhile actor Dick Van Dyke, 98, is pictured beaming with his Emmy award for Outstanding Variety Special. The paper also picks up the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg interview with Kate Winslet, where the actress called for women to celebrate their real body shape after being told on a recent film set to sit up straighter to hide her belly rolls. [BBC]
The Daily Mail says thousands of pensioners could die if winter fuel payments are cut, according to Labour's own analysis published in 2017. The paper writes the party warned Conservative plans to axe the allowance for 10 million elderly voters would increase excess deaths by 3,850 that winter. Elsewhere, TV presenter Eamonn Holmes is seen with his new girlfriend on a cruise. [BBC]
The Daily Telegraph in its off-lead reports Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he is "not remotely happy" with the winter fuel payment plan. The paper notes up to 40 Labour backbenchers are prepared to abstain in the vote, with a small number expected to vote against the policy. But the paper splashes on an upcoming report this week which has found NHS progress is going backwards for the first time in 50 years. And actress Daisy Edgar-Jones takes centre stage on the broadsheet posing in a chic gown at the premiere of her new film On Swift Horses in Toronto. [BBC]
The prime minister has insisted that pensioners will be able to afford the loss of winter fuel payments, writes the Times. The paper adds peers are urging the MPs to vote against the policy, as it will embolden the House of Lords to kill the measure when they get to vote on it on Wednesday. The paper's off-lead says researchers have found children seriously ill in hospital with pneumonia made a faster recovery after a visit from specially trained medical clowns. "Laughter really is the best medicine", it writes. [BBC]
Up to 50 MPs could refuse to back Starmer over cut in fuel payments, says the Guardian. An anonymous MP tells the paper: "I'd expect the vast majority of anyone who does rebel to abstain, and remain inside the tent... abstention is the new rebellion." The paper observes although there is no chance of the government losing the vote, a significant number of absences would indicate the disquiet over a policy that rebels fear could lose the party votes. [BBC]
The Daily Mirror says the inquiry over serial killer nurse Lucy Letby - which begins this week - will look into whether the NHS failed to learn from crimes of fellow serial killers GP Harold Shipman and nurse Beverly Allitt. A solicitor acting for victims' families said Letby's crimes are "harrowingly familiar to how Allitt was harming kids". [BBC]
The Metro front page focuses on the start of the Lampard Inquiry looking at the deaths of around 2,000 people who were either inpatients at NHS-funded independent clinics in Essex or who died within three months of leaving between 2000 and 2023. Its headline quotes a bereaved mother who described the deaths as a "cull". [BBC]
A woman braces in a jumper, scarf and hat on the front of the Daily Star. "There goes summer as floods give way to an autumn freeze", the paper writes. After a spell of rain, colder weather is on the way. [BBC]
And the Financial Times says companies are raising record amounts of debt in the US to avoid possible market volatility due to November's presidential election and Federal Reserve policy decisions. Elsewhere, Nasa's stranded astronauts are pictured. The broadsheet says the issues with Boeing-built Starliner craft raises doubts over the aerospace company's future in the sector. [BBC]
